Stuck at Twenty-one
by Jace5000
Summary: The Mortal Instruments gang gets stuck at twenty-one with Valentine, Sebastian, and some other very interesting characters!
1. Chapter 1

**I don't own The Mortal Instruments (written by Cassandra Clare), Throne of Glass series (written by Sarah J. Maas), or The Three Stooges (owned by C3).**

Chapter 1:

Jace was spying on Valentine and Sebastian, when they disappeared. It was like a portal opened up out of nowhere and sucked them in. Jace was shocked. What had just happened? After a few minutes, Jace cautiously came out of hiding and made his way to where he had last seen Valentine and Sebastian. Jace examined the area he had last seen them. After he had thoroughly examined the area, he sent a fire message to Magnus, asking him to come. Magnus arrived a while later, along with Clary, Alec, Isabelle, and Simon.

"What do you mean, 'Valentine and Sebastian have disappeared'?" Magnus asked.

"I mean, I was in the cave spying on them, when out of nowhere a portal opened and sucked them in. I don't know where they have gone," Jace replied.

"Are you sure it wasn't just a ploy to draw us all out here?" Clary asked.

"I searched, and made sure it wasn't. They really are gone," Jace insisted.

"I can do a tracking spell to find them," Magnus suggested. "I'll just need something that belongs to one of them."

"There's lots of stuff in the cave you could use," Jace called over his shoulder as he dashed into the cave. He came out a few minutes later holding a black hoodie, and handed it to Magnus. "Do the spell now, please," he urged.

Blue sparks danced around Magnus's fingers.

"I know where they are. I'll create a portal and we can all go there," Magnus said.

When the portal was finished, they all stepped through and found themselves in an empty ally.

"Where are we?" Simon asked.

"We're in Miami," Magnus replied.

"What are they doing in Miami?" Clary wanted to know.

"I don't know. Maybe we can find out," Magnus replied. "Follow me."

They followed Magnus as he lead them down several streets. Eventually, they came to a sky rise.

"They're in there," Magnus said.

"What's our plan when we find them?" Isabelle asked.

"We find out why they came here," Jace replied.

#

 _ **The Stooges are cuckoo,**_

 _ **The Morgensterns mad,**_

 _ **Follow, fav, and review,**_

 _ **Or I will be sad!**_


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

Clary, Jace, and their friends entered the building. It was evening and Clary guessed that most, if not all, the workers had gone home, except for janitors and possibly a security guard. Although, Clary thought, it was more likely that there were just cameras.

"Do the glammers you put on us hide us from cameras?" Simon asked.

"They should," Magnus replied.

"What happens if they don't?" Clary asked.

"That's where the idea of ghosts being visible through a camera came from," Magnus explained.

Magnus led the group over to an elevator, and pushed the button to call it. When the elevator arrived and they had all climbed in, Magnus pushed the button for the twenty-first floor. When the elevator doors opened, the first thing they heard was someone yelling.

"Oh my head! Moe! Larry! He cut off my head!"

They then heard a loud bang, and footsteps running towards them. Three figures came around the corner into the hallway Clary and the others were standing in.

"Are those the Three Stooges?" Simon asked.

"Oh no," Magnus whimpered.

"Magnus?" Alec asked, concerned.

"They are the warlock offspring of the stupidest demon to ever exist. That is literally what the demon is known for," Magnus explained.

"If the demon is so stupid, how did it survive long enough to have offspring?" Isabelle asked.

"He also happens to be invincible, and so are his offspring," Magnus replied.

"They used to have a TV show that I watched, and I never saw anything that marked them as warlocks," Simon said.

"Their marks are hidden. Nobody has seen them or knows what they are," Magnus said.

The Three Stooges stopped running when they reached the shadowhunters and Simon and Magnus.

"I suggest you run," Moe panted. "There are a couple of crazy people trying to kill us."

"Yeah, if they see you, they might go after you too," Larry added.

Sebastian stumbled around the corner at the other end of the hall. He rubbed his head and looked up. When he saw the Three Stooges, his face contorted in rage. When the Three Stooges looked at Sebastian, Moe's hair stood straight up on his head before falling back down, Larry's hat rose off his head did a 360 degree turn before falling back on his head, and Shemp started making a meeping noise. They turned and ran. Sebastian followed them, not glancing at the group.

"What should we do?" Isabelle asked.

"I say we sit back with a bucket of popcorn and some drinks and watch everything that happens," Simon suggested.

"Magnus can you make a TV we can watch them on?" Jace asked.

#

 _ **The Stooges are cuckoo,**_

 _ **The Morgensterns mad,**_

 _ **Follow, fav, and review,**_

 _ **Or I will be sad!**_


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

"I can't make a TV out of nothing. However, I could make one of the computer monitors in one of these offices show us what is going on," Magnus said.

"Maybe there is a conference room that has a bigger screen," Clary suggested.

"Good idea," Magnus replied.

The gang walked down the hallway, checking each room to see if it was a conference room. They finally found the room they were looking for and walked in. In the room was a large table that seated about fifteen people. Large screen TV's were hanging on each wall, so no matter where you sat you could see a screen directly in front of you.

Magnus waggled his fingers and several large bowls of popcorn, six cups, and various bottles of soda and juice appeared. They all sat down. Clary and Jace sat beside one another; Alec and Magnus chose seats next to each other; and Isabelle and Simon sat across from each other. When they were all settled, Magnus snapped his fingers and with a flare of blue sparks the screens all came to life, showing the Three Stooges, Valentine, and Sebastian.

They watched the Three Stooges vs. Valentine and Sebastian for about half an hour. One of the most memorable confrontations between the two groups was when Valentine and Sebastian had tried to sneak up behind the Three Stooges. They had snuck up behind them with their swords in hand. Valentine and Sebastian had then proceeded to stab Moe and Larry in their backs. At least they tried to. When their swords had connected with the Moe's and Larry's backs, the swords bent in several places, creating a zigzag pattern. Valentine and Sebastian had pulled their swords back and looked at them dumbfounded. At the same time Moe, Larry, and Shemp whirled around, and upon seeing Sebastian and Valentine, Moe had given Valentine the two eyed finger poke, crisscross face slaps, the gut punch, and the nose honk. Larry had stomped on Sebastian's foot and pulled out some of his hair. Shemp, having procured a coffee from somewhere – honestly Clary wasn't sure where he had gotten it – walked behind Sebastian and poured it down the back of his pants, causing him to leap into the air and howl in pain.

Valentine and Sebastian had just cornered the Three Stooges again when a new figure approached them from behind. The new figure was holding a sword, pulling it back to swing at Sebastian. Sebastian ducked just in time to avoid being hit.

"Who are you?" Sebastian asked.

The figure didn't answer just swung her sword again. The figure – Clary could now tell was a she – moved swiftly, almost as fast as Sebastian and Jace did. Was this a new shadowhunter Valentine had experimented on? Clary wondered. Valentine had turned from the Three Stooges to face the girl who was giving Sebastian a run for his money. The Three Stooges edged their way past Valentine, Sebastian, and the girl. Clary saw Sebastian nock the girl's sword out of her hand. The girl ducked as Sebastian swung at her. She grabbed her sword and ran out of the room.

#

 _ **The Stooges are cuckoo,**_

 _ **The Morgensterns mad,**_

 _ **Follow, fav, and review,**_

 _ **Or I will be sad!**_


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

"Who was that girl?" Isabelle asked.

Everybody shrugged.

"Should we try to find her?" Simon inquired.

"Maybe. She is trying to kill Sebastian, so she can't be that bad," Clary pointed out.

"The question is, is she just after Sebastian and maybe Valentine, or is she going to come after us next?" Jace said.

"I say we observe what happens next. If there is any indication she will come after any of us or try to harm anybody else, we intervene," Alec proposed.

"I agree with Alec on this one," Magnus approved.

#

Celaena Sardothien stalked the halls of the twenty-first floor. Jonathan Morgenstern – he liked to be called Sebastian which Celaena saw no point in – was a better fighter than she had originally thought. Now, though, she knew how good he was and she wasn't going to underestimate him again.

She needed to kill him. She had recently found out that he was working with the Seelie Queen to destroy the world. Celaena happened to like the world, and didn't want it destroyed, hence the whole having to kill Jonathan. After she had killed Jonathan, she would have to determine whether his sister and her friends were a threat or not. As long as they weren't, they could part ways, probably never to see each other again.

Celaena was currently trying to find where Jonathan and Valentine had gone. They were probably still trying to kill the Three Stooges. She had to admit it was rather amusing to watch Valentine and Jonathan try and fail at killing the Three Stooges.

Celaena came to another door and silently opened it. Inside were six people watching various TV screens. She recognized the people as being Clary, Jonathan's sister, and her friends, Simon, Jace, Alec, Isabelle, and Magnus. On one half of the TV screen it showed Jonathan and Sebastian. On the other half it showed her. The people swiveled around to face her.

"Who are you?" Clary asked, rising to her feet along with the others. They all had their hands positions to grab their weapons.

Celaena raised her hands in a show of peace. Until she knew which side they were on, she didn't want to engage in combat.

"I'm Celaena Sardothien," Celaena introduced herself.

"Clary Fray. This is Simon Lewis; Jace, Alec, and Isabelle Lightwood; and Magnus Bane," Clary introduced the group. "Are you part Fey?"

#

 _ **The Stooges are cuckoo,**_

 _ **The Morgensterns mad,**_

 _ **Follow, fav, and review,**_

 _ **Or I will be sad!**_


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

"I am part Fey," Celaena replied.

"Why are you trying to kill Sebastian?" Jace asked.

"He is working with the Seelie Queen to destroy the world," Celaena answered.

"He's what?! I thought he was trying to take over the world with Valentine," Jace said.

"No, Sebastian hates this world," Celaena maintained.

"If he's working with the Fey, why are you trying to kill him? I thought you said you were Fey as well," Magnus queried.

"I did, but I'm only part Fey. My allegiance does not lie with the Fey," Celaena reassured.

"Where did you learn to fight like you do?" Jace asked.

Celaena was getting tired of all the questions. She needed to find and eliminate Jonathan. "A long time ago, before even your warlock friend was around, I was an assassin," she replied. "I really must be going."

Celaena walked out of the room.

#

Clary watched Celaena walk out of the room. There were so many questions she had wanted to ask her. Unfortunately, she didn't get the chance. Maybe she could ask her later.

"That was interesting," Jace commented.

"Should we continue observing on the TVs?" Simon asked.

"I think that would be a good idea," Magnus concurred.

They watched the other people in the building some more. One of Clary's favorite times was when Sebastian and Valentine had chased the Three Stooges down a hallway. The Stooges had placed a string across the width of the hallway and Valentine and Sebastian had tripped over it, sprawling to the ground. The Stooges had proceeded to then cover them with a tarp – Clary really didn't know where they got any of this stuff – and tied them up in it. Valentine and Sebastian had cut their way out and hurried after the Stooges, finding them walking down another hallway. The Stooges were looking everywhere except behind them. Valentine and Sebastian quietly snuck up behind them. Feeling the Morgensterns' breathing, Moe and Larry looked behind themselves. When they saw Valentine and Sebastian, they opened their mouths in silent alarm and ran to the side and into a room, slamming the door behind them.

"What was that?" Shemp asked, looking up. When nobody answered, he reasoned, "Must have just been the wind."

Puzzled looks crossed Valentine's and Sebastian's faces.

"Boy, I'm sure glad you guys are behind me, or I'd be real scared," Shemp continued.

Shemp reached back and grabbed Valentine's hand. Shemp opened a door to the left of him and pulled Valentine and Sebastian in behind him. He closed and locked the door, then pushed everything he could up against it, not once glancing at Valentine and Sebastian.

"That ought to keep them out," Shemp chuckled, after he had finished barricading the door.

Shemp looked up and saw a coat rack with a sheet hanging over.

"OH! OH! Moe, Larry, there's a ghost!" Shemp screamed. "Oh wait; it's just a coat rack with a sheet over it." Something seemed to occur to Shemp when Moe and Larry didn't say or do anything. "Moe, Larry, are you there?" Shemp asked, turning around.

#

 _ **The Stooges are cuckoo,**_

 _ **The Morgensterns mad,**_

 _ **Follow, fav, and review,**_

 _ **Or I will be sad!**_


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

Shemp took a step back in surprise when he saw Valentine and Sebastian. After his shock had worn off, Shemp ran for the other door that he hadn't blocked, yelling for Moe and Larry. In the hallway outside of the office, Shemp bumped into Moe and Larry.

"What is it?" Moe asked.

"They're right behind me, Moe," Shemp whimpered.

At that moment Valentine and Sebastian ran out of the room. Upon seeing them the Three Stooges all made "nyah" sounds and ran.

Now Clary watched the Three Stooges lead Valentine and Sebastian on a merry chase in and out of several offices. Clary and the others were still watching the Screens when the Three Stooges burst into the room with the Morgenstern men right on their heels. Moe hid behind Jace, Larry hid behind Simon, and Shemp hid behind Isabelle.

"Hey, Peanut Brain, the lady aint a shield," Moe called to Shemp.

Shemp looked down at Isabelle, smiled, tipped his hat, and said, "Oh, pardon me miss." He then proceeded to move behind Alec.

"Jonathan, move out of the way," Valentine ordered Jace.

"My name is Jace, not Jonathan," Jace said as he moved out of the way.

Valentine leaped forward and slashed his seraph blade at Moe. The blade sliced along the side of Moe's head.

"Oh, oh, oh. Oh look," Moe said and pointed to the blade of the seraph blade.

The seraph blade was ragged and torn apart as if it had been put in a super blender. By this time Sebastian had chased Larry and Shemp away from their shadowhunter and Vampire shields. Shemp picked up some of the cups Magnus had procured earlier and threw them at Sebastian. Meanwhile, Larry had gotten a cup full of fire ants from somewhere and snuck up behind Valentine who was looking at his seraph blade, bewildered. Larry poured the cup of ants down the back of Valentines pants. The resulting yell brought the attention of everyone in the room except Shemp, who, taking advantage of Sebastian's distraction, picked up a popcorn bowl and clobbered him over the head with it.

"He's got ants in his pant," Larry snickered.

"Good work, Porcupine," Moe said, patting Larry on the head.

"Thank you," Larry beamed under the praise.

Valentine ran out of the room, but Sebastian turned towards where Shemp had joined Moe and Larry. He snarled and sprang at them.

#

 _ **The Stooges are cuckoo,**_

 _ **The Morgensterns mad,**_

 _ **Follow, fav, and review,**_

 _ **Or I will be sad!**_


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7:

With her own sword, Celaena intercepted Sebastian's seraph blade before it could connect with any of the Three Stooges. She knocked his blade to the side and thrust her sword forward, trying to run it through his chest. Sebastian dodged out of the way in the nick of time.

While Celaena and Sebastian fought the Stooges ran out of the room. This was fortunate for them, because Valentine strode through the door a minute later. Valentine stood in the door of the conference room, his pants soaking wet, and a scowl marring his face.

"Jonathan, quit playing with that girl and help me destroy those pests," Valentine ordered.

"I don't think he's playing," Clary observed.

"Of course he's playing. No one is as good a fighter as he is. Not even Jace," Valentine scoffed.

"Hey!" Jace shouted indignantly. "I could take him."

Sebastian parried Celaena's blow with a dagger he had pulled from his weapons belt. Their fight was cut short when they heard a crash from another room.

#

"Look what you imbeciles did. You broke the glass," Moe said, slapping his fellow Stooges. "We're going to have to fix that."

Moe grabbed Larry by the inside of his nose and Shemp by the hair.

"Oh, Moe we're sorry, we're sorry," Larry and Shemp apologized.

"Cut it out, Moe," Shemp pleaded.

They heard a police siren approaching. They looked out the now broken window and saw several emergency vehicles pulling up outside the building, most of them police.

"It's the cops! We better scram!" Moe shouted, running for the door, Larry and Shemp on his heels.

They ran for the elevator. When they reached it they pushed the button to call it. The doors opened a few seconds later, and they climbed in. Moe pushed the button for the basement, and the elevator started moving. The doors opened a few minutes later, and the Stooges found themselves on another floor. They ran out of the elevator.

"Man the basement sure looks an awful lot like the twenty-first floor," Larry commented.

They ran into the conference room that Clary, her friends, the Morgenstern men, and Celaena were in.

"If I didn't know better, I'd say we were back on the twenty-first floor," Shemp said.

"Hey, you guys look just like the people we left on the twenty-first floor," Larry said.

"That's because they are the same people, Lamebrains," Moe said.

"How did you get down here so fast?" Shemp asked.

"They didn't, Knucklehead. We're still on the twenty-first floor," Moe said, flicking Shemp under his nose.

#

 _ **The Stooges are cuckoo,**_

 _ **The Morgensterns mad,**_

 _ **Follow, fav, and review,**_

 _ **Or I will be sad!**_


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8:

"You three," Valentine growled.

"Hey, Moe?" Shemp said.

"Yeah?" Moe asked.

"I think we better get out a here," Shemp said.

Valentine charged at them.

"Your right! Let's beat it!" Moe called as he turned and ran for the door.

#

Clary watched as Valentine chased the Stooges out of the room. Sebastian was still fighting Celaena. Clary couldn't tell who was winning. They seemed pretty evenly matched.

"It's strange that the Stooges couldn't get off this floor," Isabelle commented. "Could something be keeping them here?"

"There could be something keeping them here," Magnus replied. "Or they could just be too stupid to use the elevator."

"One of us should try and see if we can get off this floor," Clary suggested.

"I'll go," Jace and Clary said at the same time.

"How about you both go," Magnus said. "It would be better if we don't go wandering off by ourselves."

"Agreed," Jace approved. "Clary and I will go see if there really is something keeping people on this floor, or if it's just the Stooges stupidity."

Clary and Jace left the room. When they were inside the elevator, Jace pressed the button for the fifth floor. The elevator moved, and when it came to a stop, the doors opened with a ding. The floor they were on looked exactly like the twenty-first floor.

"Either the fifth floor looks exactly like the twenty-first floor, or we are still on the twenty-first floor," Jace said.

At that moment they saw the Stooges run around the corner of the hallway, dash into a room, and slam the door shut. Valentine followed closely, he ran up to the door and tried the nob. He then backed up and ran for the door, just as it flew open and the Stooges came out. Upon seeing each other they both came up short. The Stooges turned around and slammed the door closed again right before Valentine could get to it. Again Valentine backed up and was just about to try to break the door down when the Stooges came out again. They went through the same motions several more time before Valentine got tired of it and ran forward just as the Three Stooges opened the door. Valentine sprawled to the ground on the other side.

"As much fun as it is to watch them, we should try the elevator again," Clary said. "Are you sure you pushed the button for the fifth floor?"

"I'm ninety-nine percent sure," Jace replied. "You saw me push the button."

"We should still check it and make sure," Clary said.

"Agreed," Jace replied.

They walked into the elevator for their second attempt.

#

 _ **The Stooges are cuckoo,**_

 _ **The Morgensterns mad,**_

 _ **Follow, fav, and review,**_

 _ **Or I will be sad!**_


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9:

Sebastian ran out of the conference room, Celaena hot on his heels. He saw his brother and sister enter the elevator. He knew they were testing whether what the Stooges had said was true or not. He ran into another room, slamming and locking the door shut behind him. He ran across the room and out the door on the other side of the room. He was trying to lose the assassin that was after him. Why couldn't she try to kill Jace instead? It would be so much better if she did. It would also save him the trouble of having to do it himself. Perhaps he could convince her to kill Jace instead of him. First he would have to figure out why she was trying to kill him though.

He was in another hallway. He ran down it and turned a corner. Standing in front of him was Celaena.

"Why are you trying to kill me?" Sebastian asked as he dodged out of the way of her sword.

"You're trying to destroy the world. I won't let you do that," Celaena replied.

So that was why. He had suspected it was something along those lines.

"I'm not trying to destroy the world," Sebastian protested.

"Don't lie to me. I know what you're planning. I have sources close to the Faerie Queen who told me that you were conspiring with her to destroy the world," Celaena insisted.

"They must have been lying to you," Sebastian said, trying to maintain his innocence.

"My sources wouldn't lie to me," Celaena growled.

"OK, OK. Maybe they didn't lie to you. Maybe they were given wrong information which caused them to give you false information," Sebastian conceded.

"What do you mean?" Celaena asked, stopping her attack.

"I'm not trying to destroy the world," Sebastian said again. "I'm trying to stop Jace from destroying it."

"What do you mean?" Celaena asked, her eyes narrowing.

"Jace is trying to destroy the world. He has fooled the others into thinking that he's their friend, that he's trying to save the world, and that I'm trying to destroy it. I've been watching for a while now, trying to figure out when he would strike. I didn't know he was also working with the Faerie Queen. Now that you're here you can help me stop Jace," Sebastian inveigled.

#

Clary and Jace returned to the conference room. They had tried the elevator three more times, and each time they ended up on the twenty-first floor, no matter which button they pushed.

"The Stooges are right. We are trapped on this floor," Jace said.

Magnus was just about to say something when a voice interrupted them.

"THIS IS THE POLICE! COME OUT WITH YOUR HANDS UP WHERE THEY ARE VISIBLE!" someone said over a loud speaker. "IF YOU FAIL TO COOPERATE THE BUILDING WILL BE STORMED, AND ALL PERSONS WILL BE TAKEN INTO CUSTODY! REPEAT; COME OUT WITH YOUR HANDS UP!"

"Come out with your hands up," Jace said.

Clary looked at him. "Jace, what are you doing?"

"They said to repeat, so I repeated," Jace replied.

"We need to find some way of keeping the police from getting on this floor," Magnus said. "If we really are trapped on this floor we need to make sure not to let anybody else get trapped. Especially, if they are mundies; they won't understand the shadow world."

#

 _ **The Stooges are cuckoo,**_

 _ **The Morgensterns mad,**_

 _ **Follow, fav, and review,**_

 _ **Or I will be sad!**_


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10:

"I believe you," Celaena said, sheathing her sword. "I have just one question. How come you're working with Valentine if you aren't up to anything nefarious?"

"I'm just playing along so that he doesn't get suspicious. That way I can spy on him in order to take him down," Sebastian replied, smoothly.

Sebastian inwardly smirked. He had played her just like he had played everybody else. Maybe he could somehow manipulate her into also killing Valentine. Eventually, his dear old dad would have to go. He was a hindrance to Sebastian's plan.

"Are you going to stop trying to kill me, now that you know you're trying to kill the wrong person?" Sebastian asked.

"Yes, I'll stop the person who is really trying to destroy the world," Celaena replied.

#

"How are we supposed to keep anybody else from coming to this floor?" Alec asked.

"I'll put a spell on this floor that keeps anybody from being brought here while I work on figuring out what's keeping us here," Magnus replied.

At that moment, Valentine chased the Three Stooges into the room. He cornered them and aimed his seraph blade at the throat of Shemp.

"Jonathan, get in here and help me rid the world of these pesky Stooges!" Valentine yelled.

Sebastian walked in and took his place by his father. He pulled his dagger and aimed it at the Stooges as well.

"Oh please. You can't kill me. I have to take care of my little brother who is only this high," Shemp pleaded, indicating a height in the air. "And my littler brother this high, and the one that's only this high, and the one that's only this high," he continued indicating places in the air that got shorter and shorter each time. "And my great big brother this high!" Shemp yelled, bringing his hand up and knocking Valentine's blade to the side.

"Get them!" Valentine shouted to his son.

Sebastian swung his dagger at Shemp, but before it could connect Moe grabbed a mettle tray and bashed Sebastian over the head with it. Valentine swung his blade at Shemp and it poked Shemp in the chest. The blade crumpled. Valentine pulled it back and looked at it confused.

"What does it take to kill them?!" Valentine pondered, loudly.

"You can't. They're invincible," Magnus informed him.

"We have more pressing matters than Valentine being frustrated over not being able to kill the Three Stooges," Clary pointed out.

#

 _ **The Stooges are cuckoo,**_

 _ **The Morgensterns mad,**_

 _ **Follow, fav, and review,**_

 _ **Or I will be sad!**_


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11:

"What problem is that?" Valentine asked. "I have told you Clarissa; I expect you to call me father."

"Jace has told you to call him Jace, yet you insist on calling him Jonathan," Clary retorted.

"The police are outside and they want us to come out with our hands up," Isabelle said.

"I don't see how that's a problem," Valentine said.

"If we don't go outside they will storm the building. If they come to the twenty-first floor, they'll be stuck here just like us," Alec said.

"We're stuck on this floor?" Sebastian asked.

"Yes. I'm trying to figure out what is keeping us here. I've also put a spell on the elevator that keeps it from stopping at the twenty-first floor," Magnus replied.

"Until you figure that out, I'm going to do my best to purge the world of those three," Valentine pointed to the Three Stooges. "Jonathan, it's time to begin the eradication of the Three Stooges."

Valentine launched himself halfway across the room and grabbed Shemp by the neck. Shemp started choking. Moe and Larry moved behind Valentine and kicked him in the butt. Valentine's grip on Shemp loosened, and Shemp moved out of his grasp. Moe, Larry and Shemp ran for the door, Valentine and Sebastian following close behind. Before the Stooges could make it out the door, Valentine grabbed Shemp by the hair and pulled him back. He twisted Shemp's neck, breaking it. Shemp slumped to the ground. Dead. Moe and Larry rushed to his side.

"Speak to me, Kid," Moe said, patting Shemp's face.

"Moe," Larry said, pulling Moe's sleeve. "Moe, I think he's dead."

"Poor Shemp. He never had a chance," Moe said.

Moe and Larry pulled their hats off their head and placed them across their chests, tears streaming down their faces.

"Valentine truly is evil. He just killed a Stooge," Clary muttered.

"I thought you said Stooges were invincible?" Simon asked Magnus.

"Watch," Magnus commanded.

In through the door walked a new figure. He was slightly taller than Moe and Larry. Moe and Larry looked up and when they saw the new figure, looks of joy crossed their faces.

#

 _ **The Stooges are cuckoo,**_

 _ **The Morgensterns mad,**_

 _ **Follow, fav, and review,**_

 _ **Or I will be sad!**_


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12:

"Who are you?" Valentine asked.

"I'm the fourth Stooge. My name is Curly," Curly replied.

"A fourth Stooge?" Valentine asked, disbelievingly.

"Yeah. There always has to be three Stooges, so when Shemp dies I come and take his place while he is recycled. Then when I die, he takes my place while I'm being recycled," Curly explained.

"How about those two? Do they ever die?" Sebastian asked.

"No, we're invisible," Larry said.

"It's invincible, you knucklehead," Moe corrected, slapping Larry across the face.

By this time Valentine's eyes were bulging, his face was turning red, his jaw was clenched, and Clary was pretty sure if steam could literally come out of ones' ears that it would be billowing out of Valentine's. Tsunami sized waves of anger rolled off Valentine.

"You're saying there is absolutely no way to get rid of you?" Valentine was incredulous.

"There is no way. How many times does everybody need to hear it? I repeat, there is no way to kill the Three Stooges. They will continue on forever," Magnus said. "Now can we get back to the real problem at hand?"

Valentine sank down into a chair at the table, letting his head thunk down on to it.

"Right. The problem. People can get onto this floor, but can't get off," Simon said.

"How do we get off?" Isabelle asked.

"We find whoever put the 'keep people on this floor' spell on it in the first place," Magnus replied.

"Where do we find that person?" Jace asked.

"I can tell the spell was created by another warlock, so the warlock who did the spell will still be somewhere on this floor," Magnus replied.

"What about them? They're warlocks. Could they have put the spell on this floor?" Sebastian asked.

"No. The only powers they have is procuring various stuff, annoying people to the point of insanity, being stupid, being invincible, and throwing pies in peoples' faces," Magnus said. "No, it would have had to be another warlock."

"OK, we can rule out Jace, Alec, Isabelle, Simon, you, Valentine, Sebastian, the Three Stooges, Celaena, and I," Clary said. "Either we're not warlocks, can't do the spell, or wouldn't do the spell."

"Speaking of Celaena, where is she?" Magnus asked.

#

 _ **The Stooges are cuckoo,**_

 _ **The Morgensterns mad,**_

 _ **Follow, fav, and review,**_

 _ **Or I will be sad!**_


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13:

Celaena was standing in the shadows outside the room. She listened to everything, trying to determine the best time to eliminate Jace. Sebastian had told her all about how Jace had tricked everybody into believing Sebastian was evil and trying to destroy the world. In fact, Jace was actually the one trying to destroy the world. Sebastian had said she would need to corner Jace when he was alone, or Clary, the Lightwoods, the vampire, and the warlock would try to defend him out of a misguided sense of loyalty.

Deciding that she would pretend to be concerned about the issue of not being able to get off the twenty-first floor – which, come to think of it, was a problem that she would like to know the answer to – then lure Jace away from his friends and kill him. Celaena walked into the conference room.

"I'm right here," Celaena said.

#

"Oh, good. Do you have any idea who is keeping us on the twenty-first floor," Magnus asked.

"No. I'm just as curious about who would do something like this as the rest of you," Celaena replied.

"You said that the person doing this would have to be on this floor with us, so what if we split up into groups of two and search for him," Simon suggested.

"That's a good idea. Clary and I will stay together. How about Alec and Magnus can be in a group together, and Isabelle and Simon can search together. Valentine and Sebastian can be on the same team, and Celaena and Larry can team up, and Moe and Curly can work together," Jace said.

"Does that sound good to everybody else?" Magnus asked.

Everybody nodded, except for the Stooges. "Hold on!"

"We objectify, Your Honor!" Curly piped up.

"Yeah," Larry agreed.

"It's object, and we aren't on trial here, You Nitwit," Moe said.

"What is it you object to?" Magnus asked.

"We don't want to be split up," Larry said.

"Yeah, we work well as a team," Curly pointed out.

"OK, you three can stay together. Celaena can go with Simon and Isabelle," Magnus said.

"Does that work for everybody?" Clary asked.

She received various responses in affirmative.

"Good, then join your partners and let's start searching," Magnus said.

The different groups split up and headed off in different directions. Jace and Clary were walking down an aisle between several cubicles. Clary glanced to her left and saw a figure jump off the top of a partition.

"I saw someone jump off the top of one of the partitions," Clary said, nudging Jace and pointing to where she had seen the figure.

Jace nodded and they silently turned down the next aisle they came to. In front of them they could see a dark figure glance over his shoulder at them and take off running. Jace and Clary sprinted after him.

#

 _ **The Stooges are cuckoo,**_

 _ **The Morgensterns mad,**_

 _ **Follow, fav, and review,**_

 _ **Or I will be sad!**_


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14:

The figure they were chasing was fast. He led them down several aisles before he came to a dead end. The figure began to climb over one of the partitions, but Jace pulled the figure down.

"Who are you?" Jace asked.

The figure was a guy who looked to be about eighteen or nineteen years in age. He was about six feet tall and had slicked back hair that was colored with two different shades of green in a watermelon rind pattern. His dark skin contrasted nicely with his piercing ice blue eyes. There was no visible mark to signify that he was a warlock.

"Who are you?" the boy countered.

"I asked you first," Jace snapped.

"I'm Clary and he's Jace. Now that you know our names what's yours?" Clary butted in before things could go any further.

"My name's Adrian," Adrian said.

"Are you a warlock?" Jace asked.

"Yup," Adrian answered. "And now you want to know if I'm the warlock who responsible for the spell keeping you on this floor."

"Yes, we do want to know that. How did you know we were going to ask you that?" Clary asked.

"The answer to the first question is, 'yeah, I did that spell.' It's a good one too. I actually modified another spell I'd heard from a different warlock. For the second question, the answer is, 'I know all,'" Adrian grinned.

"What's my favorite color?" Jace asked.

"I don't know," Adrian replied.

"You don't know all which means you were spying on us!" Jace exclaimed.

"I texted the others. They said to meet them in the conference room with Adrian," Clary said.

Adrian grinned. "Race you there," he said and disappeared in a flash of green sparks.

Jace and Clary looked at each other briefly, then took off for the conference room. When they reached it, they saw Adrian sitting at the head of the conference table with his feet propped up on the table. He was the only other person in the room. A moment later the others came in.

"Who's that?" Simon asked.

"That's Adrian," Clary replied.

Adrian grinned and waved his fingers at everybody.

#

 _ **The Stooges are cuckoo,**_

 _ **The Morgensterns mad,**_

 _ **Follow, fav, and review,**_

 _ **Or I will be sad!**_


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15:

"He's the warlock that's keeping us trapped on this floor?" Simon asked, incredulously. "He looks like a watermelon."

"A very good watermelon," Isabelle added and Simon frowned.

"Why thank you, Lovely Lady," Adrian said, winking at Isabelle.

Simon's frown deepened into a scowl. "Why are you keeping us here?" he asked, trying to steer the conversation away from Adrian and Isabelle flirting.

"And that's the question everyone wants an answer to," Adrian smirked.

"No, we just want to annoy you by asking pointless questions," Jace remarked, sarcastically.

"And here I was about to answer your question when I was so rudely interrupted," Adrian said in mock offence.

"Jace, don't interrupt. Please answer the question," Alec said.

Adrian leaned towards them like he was about to reveal a secret. "I didn't bring you guys here. I only brought them here," he stage whispered, pointing to Valentine and Sebastian. "You guys were just an added bonus."

"Why did you bring us here?" Valentine asked.

"I brought you here because I wanted to see how you would react to the Three Stooges. I must say it was quite interesting, and very funny," Adrian replied.

"You purposely pitted us against those vexations?" Valentine growled in fury.

Adrian grinned and nodded.

"Hey! I resemble that!" Curly protested.

"It's resent! Resent! Get your words straight, Bird Brain," Moe said, slapping Curly upside the head.

"He's right. We resent what you just said. We aren't vexations," Larry agreed.

"Then what would you call yourselves?" Valentine asked through clench teeth.

"Stooges!" the reply came immediately from all three of them.

Their answer seemed to anger Valentine even more. He pulled a dagger from his weapons belt and charged at the Stooges.

Adrian smiled and snapped his fingers. Drinks appeared in everybody's hands and bowls of snacks appeared on the table.

"Sit back and enjoy the show, everybody," Adrian instructed.

#

 _ **The Stooges are cuckoo,**_

 _ **The Morgensterns mad,**_

 _ **Follow, fav, and review,**_

 _ **Or I will be sad!**_


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16:

Valentine was right behind the Three Stooges. Curly opened a door to an office and it hit Valentine in the face. Curly didn't seem to notice.

"Hey, Guys! In here," Curly called to Moe and Larry.

Curly looked over his shoulder to see where Valentine was and saw that he was reeling back holding his nose, a look of rage plastered to his face. Curly's face screwed up in fright and he made a 'nyah ah ah' sound. Curly rushed into the room and slammed the door behind him, locking it.

Valentine rammed the door with his shoulder several times until it opened. The Stooges had hidden in different places around the room. Valentine walked in cautiously. He looked all around trying to spot where the Stooges had gone. Valentine was in the middle of the room when someone hit him on the head with a bat. Valentine crumpled to the ground, and the Three Stooges ran out the door. Valentine stumbled to his feet and ran after them. He finally cornered them in another office.

Valentine raised his dagger and charged at Moe. Moe ducked out of the way and Valentine turned to Larry. Before his blade could connect, Moe picked up a lamp off the desk and hit Valentine on the wrist. Valentine dropped his dagger. Moe and Larry ran out of the room. Curly tried to follow, but Valentine was in the way. Valentine smiled a positively evil smile. He struck out punching Curly in the gut. Curly stumbled back. When he regained his balance, he did that strange running in place dance while making that weird "woop, woop, woop" sound. He then proceeded to run at Valentine and tried to tackle him.

"Hey, Moe! Hey, Larry!" Curly called in fright and desperation when his attempt to tackle Valentine failed.

Valentine had picked up his dagger again and was coming for Curly. Moe and Larry rushed back and looked in the doorway.

"What is it, Kid?" Moe asked.

"He's trying to kill me," Curly wailed.

"He is, is he?" Moe asked.

"Yeah," Curly confirmed.

"Then we'll just have to stop him," Moe said. "Larry, get some hot water."

"What do we need hot water for?" Larry asked.

"You'll see," Moe said.

A look of apprehension crossed Valentine's face when he heard Moe and Larry plotting and he muttered a small, "Oh no."

#

 _ **The Stooges are cuckoo,**_

 _ **The Morgensterns mad,**_

 _ **Follow, fav, and review,**_

 _ **Or I will be sad!**_


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17:

"How long is this going to go on?" Clary asked, somewhat exasperated.

"What?" Simon asked.

"That," Clary said pointing to the screen where Valentine was facing off against the Three Stooges.

"You don't like watching them?" Adrian asked. "You don't think it's funny?"

"At first it was fun. Now it's just getting old," Clary said while watching Moe bite Valentine's nose while clinging to his back like a baby monkey to its mama. "It's like that with a lot of things."

"We could try intervening," Isabelle suggested.

"I think that would be a good idea," Clary said.

"No. I like watching them," Adrian said, a slight note of petulance in his voice. So slight in fact that Clary almost didn't detect it.

"Did you do something to Valentine to make him so volatile towards the Three Stooges?" Clary asked. "He never struck me as someone so easily provoked."

A smirk crept across Adrian's face. "Maybe..." he said, slowly.

"What did you do to him?" Jace asked.

"I put a spell on him," Adrian said, airily.

"Magnus, can you undo the spell on Valentine?" Alec inquired.

"I wasn't able to undo the spell he created to keep us on this floor; however, I can try to undo the spell on Valentine," Magnus said. "It might take a few minutes, and I'll need to be in the same room as him."

"I'll go get him," Sebastian said, speaking for the first time in since the conversation started.

"We'll go with you," Jace said.

Jace and Sebastian stared at each other for a few seconds. Sebastian nodded and Jace, Clary, and Alec headed out the room.

"You guys stay here and keep an eye on Adrian," Jace said to the others as they walked out the door.

Sebastian, Clary, Jace, and Alec walked into the room Valentine and the Stooges were fighting in. They pried Moe off Valentine's back and separated the Stooges from Valentine.

"You guys need to calm down," Clary said.

"We're going to take you back to the conference room. You will not try to kill each other on the way there," Jace instructed.

"I'm going to kill them if it's the last thing I do," Valentine seethed.

"No you won't. You're going to come with us to the conference room where everything will be explained to you," Sebastian stated, calmly.

#

 _ **The Stooges are cuckoo,**_

 _ **The Morgensterns mad,**_

 _ **Follow, fav, and review,**_

 _ **Or I will be sad!**_


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18:

"What do you think about Jace?" Celaena asked Isabelle.

Celaena had believed Sebastian at first when he had said that Jace was only pretending to be a good guy. However, Celaena had watched Jace with his friends. She didn't think he was pretending. Either he was a really good actor, he was somehow blackmailing his companions into saying he was a good guy, or he really wasn't bad like Sebastian had said. If it was the last option, that meant Sebastian had lied to her.

"What do you mean?" Isabelle asked.

"I mean what do you think of Jace as a person?" Celaena clarified.

"He's my brother. I think he's a great person," Isabelle said.

"Just because he's your brother?" Celaena asked.

"No, because I've known him since he was ten, and he's always been a good brother. He's always had our backs," Isabelle explained. "What's with all the questioning?"

"I was just wondering," Celaena answered.

"OK," Isabelle murmured.

Celaena thought about what Isabelle had said. Jace did seem to have his friends backs, but what if they were all just pretending? What if Isabelle had been coerced into saying that?

Celaena would have to find a way to talk to Jace alone. After all she couldn't just accuse him of being evil in front of everybody.

#

They were back in the conference room; Valentine and the Three Stooges seated across from each other at the table.

"Take the spell off him," Jace commanded Adrian.

"But I don't want to," Adrian said, simply.

"Well we do," Clary said.

"Hmmm… I don't know," Adrian sighed, pretending to ponder whether he should take the spell off Valentine. "It's just so entertaining to watch Valentine run around like an idiot trying to kill them. I mean he didn't even think to use his stele."

"You put a spell on me?!" Valentine shouted.

"Yes," Adrian grinned and nodded.

"You put a spell on him to make him volatile and stupid?" Magnus asked. "Whatever for?!"

"Like I've told you for what seems like the hundredth and fifty-first time, _I did it because it's fun to watch_ ," Adrian said, making sure to enunciate the words clearly.

"Take it off," Valentine growled.

"OK, OK. No need to get so upset about it," Adrian conceded, waving his fingers. A cloud of bright neon green surrounded Valentine then disappeared.

"Is he back to normal?" Simon asked.

"Tell me, how do you feel about the Three Stooges?" Jace asked.

"I will make sure they pay for what they have done. However, first I will complete my goal to purge the Clave of its corruption," Valentine said, coldly.

#

 _ **The Stooges are cuckoo,**_

 _ **The Morgensterns mad,**_

 _ **Follow, fav, and review,**_

 _ **Or I will be sad!**_


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19:

"He's back," Jace said.

"Now it's time for you to take the 'keep people on this floor spell' off," Magnus instructed Adrian.

"You can make me take the other spell off him, but you can't make me undo the 'keep people on this floor spell' as you have so dubbed it," Adrian said.

"Yes we can," Sebastian said.

"No you can't," Adrian sing-songed.

With a flash and a grin, Adrian disappeared.

"Guess it's back to searching for him," Simon said.

"Yes. Should we split up like before?" Clary asked.

"It worked well last time," Isabelle said.

#

Adrian sat in a desk chair. It was fun playing with his new floor mates. He didn't get to spend much time with other people. That was, after all, the way it usually worked when one pissed off a powerful warlock that could trap you on the floor of an office building. In the day time he had to hide from the people who usually resided here.

Adrian had learned the spell the warlock had used on him and brought Valentine and Sebastian to the floor. He had heard they were terrorizing the shadowhunters and figured the shadowhunters would be grateful if he got rid of them. He didn't expect the shadowhunters to come looking for them. Why would they? Although, come to think of it, it was way more interesting that they had.

Adrian snapped his fingers, and the computer monitor in front of him came to life. On the monitor, there were five different boxes, all showing each of the different groups. They were searching for him. They wouldn't find him until he was ready to be found.

Adrian thought about the conversation he had overheard Celaena and Sebastian having. He should somehow maneuver Celaena and Jace so they ended up alone together. It would be interesting watching how that would play out. Adrian snapped his fingers and set the events into motion that would lead to Jace and Celaena being alone together.

#

Clary was walking next to Jace, searching for Adrian when she heard what sounded like Simon scream.

"Simon," Clary muttered, worriedly.

Clary took off at a run for where she had heard Simon scream.

"Clary!" Jace shouted.

Clary didn't pause in her mad dash for Simon. She could hear Jace running to catch up. Clary reached the place where the scream had come from only to find Simon, Isabelle, and Celaena all perfectly fine.

"What happened?" Clary panted.

Isabelle looked at her strangely. "What do you mean what happened?" she asked.

"We heard Simon scream," Jace replied.

"I didn't scream," Simon said, bewildered.

"It must be Adrian playing tricks on us," Celaena reasoned.

"Why would he want us together?" Clary pondered.

"Maybe…" Simon began to say.

Simon was interrupted when he disappeared. Isabelle and Clary soon followed, leaving Jace and Celaena all alone.

#

 _ **Adrian has run,**_

 _ **Three have been taken,**_

 _ **Follow this story,**_

 _ **Or I'll be achin'.**_


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20:

"Clary!" Jace shouted.

Jace took off down the hallway.

"Where are you going?" Celaena asked, hurrying to catch up.

"I'm going to find Alec and Magnus. I'm hoping Magnus will know how to track Clary, Isabelle, and Simon," Jace replied.

"You care if they are missing?" Celaena asked.

"Of course! They're my friends," Jace replied.

"You aren't just using them?" Celaena continued her line of questioning.

"No!" Jace sounded appalled. "Where did you get that idea?"

"Nowhere," Celaena murmured quietly.

Celaena thought of Jace's reaction to those questions. He wasn't acting. He really did care about his friends. That meant Sebastian had lied to her, unless, he had also been lied to. Maybe her information that Sebastian was trying to destroy the world was wrong. Maybe Sebastian had also been misled to believe Jace was evil. It was settled. She was going to find a way to get out of here; then she was going somewhere far away from these people and their problems.

They soon found Alec and Magnus.

"He's taken Clary, Isabelle, and Simon," Jace said as a way of greeting.

"Who's taken them?" Magnus asked.

"Adrian," Jace answered simply.

"Why would he take them?" Alec asked.

"I don't know!" Jace cried. "I was hoping Magnus could track Clary, Isabelle, and Simon."

"I can only track them if I have something that belongs to one of them," Magnus said.

"I don't have anything that belongs to any of them," Jace said, desperately.

Magnus looked at the others and they shook their heads, indicating they didn't have anything with which Magnus could track them either.

"What about saliva from one of the cups in the conference room?" Alec suggested.

"Could that work, Magnus?" Jace asked, eagerly, latching on to the idea.

"It should," Magnus replied.

Jace started leading the way to the conference room.

#

"Well that was rather disappointing," Adrian drawled.

"What did you expect?" Clary asked, angrily.

"Hmmm… I was hoping for a bit of a fight. It would have been so entertaining," Adrian's voice was distant like he was in his own head imagining what the fight would have been like.

"You've had the chance to watch how Celaena and Jace interact alone with each other. Now let us out of here!" Isabelle shouted the last part.

Adrian grinned slightly. "Not yet. I think it's time for everybody to regroup in the conference room."

#

 _ **Celaena wants out,**_

 _ **Jace is frantic,**_

 _ **Follow, fav, and review,**_

 _ **Or I might just panic!**_


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21:

Jace, Alec, Magnus, and Celaena walked into the conference room only to find the Three Stooges and the Morgenstern men already there.

"What are you guys doing here? I thought you were out looking for Adrian," Jace said.

"We were, but then somehow we ended up here again. What are you guys doing here?" Moe asked.

"Where are Clary and the others?" Sebastian asked, noticing that Clary wasn't with Jace.

"Clary and I met up with Isabelle, Simon, and Celaena. While we were with them Clary, Isabelle, and Simon disappeared. We think that Adrian took them somewhere else," Jace explained.

"Is it possible they are with Adrian now?" Sebastian asked.

"Possibly. Magnus is going to track them," Alec said.

Magnus walked over to the table.

"Which one was Clary's cup?" Magnus asked.

"I think it was that one," Jace said pointing to a cup.

Magnus picked the cup up and did the tracking spell. He walked out of the room, gesturing for the others to follow. They walked down several hallways until they came to a room none of them had seen before.

"How did we miss this?" Jace pondered out loud.

"There was a glammer hiding it," Magnus said.

Jace opened the door to the office and walked in, the others following. Inside was a large office. Jace saw Clary, Isabelle, and Simon in separate cages along one wall. Adrian was sitting at a large desk, grinning at them.

"Look who finally showed up," Adrian said, cheerfully.

"Let them go," Jace commanded.

"OK," Adrian shrugged and snapped his fingers.

Clary, Simon, and Isabelle disappeared from the cages and reappeared beside them. Clary tried to run towards Jace but was stopped when she ran into an invisible wall. She rebounded off the wall. She regained her balance and reached her hand out, touching the wall.

"Let them go," Jace growled at Adrian.

"I did," Adrian replied.

"I meant for you to let them go so they could rejoin us," Jace hissed.

"Oh! Well that I'm not going to do," Adrian stated.

"Why not? Why can't you just let us leave this floor?" Magnus said.

"BECAUSE I CAN'T! I CAN NEVER LEAVE THIS FLOOR!" Adrian shouted.

#

 _ **They searched for the missing,**_

 _ **And found their three friends,**_

 _ **Follow this story,**_

 _ **And see how it ends!**_


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22:

"What do you mean you can't leave this floor?" Clary asked.

"I mean what I said. I cannot leave this floor," Adrian said, sulkily.

"How did you get trapped here?" Alec asked.

"I pissed off some warlock that was more powerful than me; he trapped me here," Adrian explained.

"Who was the warlock you pissed off?" Magnus asked.

"I forgot his name. He was some big green guy," Adrian said, dismissively.

"You angered Ragnor Fell? No wonder you're stuck here. That guy could hold a grudge forever," Magnus said.

"What do you mean 'could'?" Adrian asked, latching on to Magnus's use of past tense.

"Ragnor is dead," Isabelle said.

"How did he die?" Adrian asked, somewhat alarmed.

Everybody turned their heads to look at Sebastian and Valentine.

"Great, now how am I ever supposed to get off this floor?" Adrian wailed.

"Magnus, could you do a spell to reverse the one Ragnor put on him?" Jace asked.

"No, only the warlock who put it on him can take it off," Magnus replied.

"If I can't leave none of you are ever going to either," Adrian declared, darkly.

Magnus snapped his fingers and in a flash of blue sparks Clary, Isabelle, and Simon were transported across the barrier between them. Adrian didn't seem to notice what Magnus had done, instead he just grinned and snapped his own fingers. In a flash of dark green sparks the group found themselves in an empty room, chained to the walls.

"Why are you doing this?" Clary asked Adrian, desperation in her voice.

"I'm doing this because if I can't leave to find company then I'll bring some people to me," Adrian replied, speaking lowly.

Adrian left the room.

"We need to find some way out of here," Simon stated.

"No, really? We need to get out of a place that a crazy warlock is keeping us in?" Jace asked, caustically.

"I might know a way," Celaena stated, quietly.

#

 _ **Adrian's secret,**_

 _ **Cannot be solved,**_

 _ **Keep reading to learn,**_

 _ **How the problem's resolved!**_


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23:

"How?" Clary asked.

"If we can get to the Faerie Court, I know a passage that will bring us back to this world. There's only one small catch…" Celaena said.

"What's the catch?" Jace asked.

"It will transport us all back to before any of this started. You'll still remember it happened, but in reality it will not happen so it won't have happened," Celaena explained.

"Why does that happen?" Isabelle questioned.

"I don't know. It's just something with the way the Faerie Realm works," Celaena replied.

The others all looked at each other.

"You think we should choose that option?" Clary asked the room.

"I don't think there is another option," Magnus said.

"Then it's settled, we'll go through the Faerie realm," Jace said.

"There's only one little thing you guys are overlooking," Valentine said.

"What's that?" Alec asked.

"We're all chained to the walls," Sebastian said.

"We didn't overlook that; we just hadn't gotten around to it yet," Jace retorted.

"We still don't have a round tuit," Simon muttered.

Clary snorted. The others just looked at Simon puzzled.

"Mundane humor," he explained.

"That still doesn't explain how we're planning on getting out of these shackles," Sebastian pointed out.

"Adrian wants to play with us, right?" Jace asked.

The others nodded.

"What if we told him we would play with him? He just has to let us out of these," Jace jangled his chains, "first."

#

Adrian stalked through the halls. He was angry. He was angry at them, and he was angry at himself. He hadn't meant to reveal his loneliness. It had just slipped out. He hadn't meant to chain them up in that room either, but they had just made him so angry. He would walk around here until he had cooled off a bit, then go see them again. Maybe they will have come around by then. He hoped they had. He so desperately wanted people that he could interact with on a daily basis. He didn't want to have to keep his new friends and playmates locked up. He would if they forced him to, but he would much rather not.

#

 _ **There's only one way,**_

 _ **Out of this place.**_

 _ **Keep reading to see,**_

 _ **Who will win the race!**_


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24:

Several hours passed before Adrian returned. When he did, there were several trays of food floating about him.

"I figured you all would be hungry by now, so I brought food," Adrian announced.

Tables appeared in front of them, and Adrian 'set' the food down, just close enough that they could reach out and pick it up.

"You can let us out of the chains. We've decided we'll stay," Alec said.

"Not yet. I have to be sure your telling me the truth and not just trying to get me to release you," Adrian replied. "Besides, I lost the key."

"Where?" Isabelle asked.

"Why do people ask that question? If I knew where I lost something, that something wouldn't be lost!" Adrian exclaimed, exasperated.

"Can't you snap your fingers and release the chains?" Magnus asked, ignoring Adrian's outburst.

"No," Adrian replied.

With that Adrian left the room.

"Now how are we supposed to get out of these chains?" Simon asked.

"Magnus, could you take the chains off us?" Jace asked.

"No. They are interfering with my magic," Magnus replied, sounding somewhat frustrated.

"We'll just have to pretend that we really are OK with staying here forever," Clary said.

#

Adrian was in his makeshift room on the floor. He so wanted to believe that they had really accepted that they were staying, but he knew they wouldn't accept it that quickly. Adrian started changing out of his clothes. A small and shiny key fell out of his pocket. Adrian bent down and picked up the key, slightly grinning. Huh, so that's where it had gone. Adrian thought. He had told them the truth earlier when he had said he had lost the key, but then lied about not being able to unlock the chains without it. Adrian set the key aside and climbed into bed. He almost set his alarm clock before he remembered that the next day was a weekend, and people rarely worked on the weekend. The flashing blue lights outside reminded him that even if it wasn't the weekend no one was coming to the office tomorrow cause of the cops and the spell Magnus had created to keep anybody else from coming to this floor.

Adrian snapped his fingers and the blue lights vanished. He had sent all the emergency personnel somewhere else where they would be more useful. Tomorrow he would have Magnus remove the spell. After all, the mundanes would find it a bit weird if they couldn't get to the twenty-first floor.

#

 _ **Adrian's manipulative,**_

 _ **What should the gang do?**_

 _ **Follow, fav, and review,**_

 _ **And please leave me a clue!**_


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25:

Over the course of the next week Adrian and the Gang fell into a routine of Adrian bringing food and escorting them to the bathroom, and them asking him to release them. It wasn't until the next Saturday that Adrian released them from the chains, although he still wouldn't let them outside of the room. After about a month had passed he finally decided that he trusted them enough to let them out of the room, but only one or two at a time. Also, he had to be with them at all times, and he put a spell on them that prevented them from harming him.

That morning he chose to spend his day with Clary and Sebastian.

"How are you two lovely people doing today?" Adrian asked, cheerfully when he led them out of the room.

"Fine. What are we doing today?" Clary asked.

"You'll see soon enough," he answered Clary's question then turned to Sebastian. "How about you? How are you doing?"

"Well," was all Sebastian said.

Adrian led them to a room full of various obstacles.

"Where do you get all this stuff, and how come nobody notices it?" Clary asked, bewildered.

"Oh, I just snap my fingers and it's here, then snap them again to get rid of it," Adrian replied airily.

"What are we going to do?" Sebastian asked.

"We're going to play, 'Who can complete the obstacle course first?' and I'll be your spectacular host!" Adrian said in his best announcer's voice. "The object of the game is to complete the obstacle course as fast as you can. The first one to the finish line will win their very own …" he paused for dramatic effect, "room! Are you ready to face down your opponent on the course?"

"Uhh… I guess so?" Clary replied when Adrian shoved the microphone he had picked up into her face.

"Somebody seems a little timid! How about you?!" Adrian asked, turning to Sebastian.

"Yes," Sebastian replied simply.

"All right. Racers, before you take your places at the start line, go into those rooms and you will find your contestant uniforms!" Adrian said, still in his fake announcer's voice.

Clary walked over to the one marked as girls and walked inside, closing the door behind her. She heard Sebastian do the same thing. Inside the dressing room Clary found a pair of stretchy work out pants; they were black with a blue stipe down the sides. When she put them on, she found out they only reached just below her knee. Next to where the pants had been was a shirt. It was also black with a blue stripe down the sides; on the back was the large blue number two. It fit her comfortably, not to tight and not to lose. When she came out of the dressing room, she saw Sebastian standing stoically next to Adrian. Sebastian was dressed in a similar outfit. The only difference was that the pants were longer and the outfit was made for a guy. Adrian was dressed in a sparkly green top and had billowy black pants. At that moment out of two different dressing rooms came Isabelle and Alec wearing the exact same outfits as Clary and Sebastian except theirs had a red stripe.

"Racers, take your places!" Adrian announced.

"Wait, I thought Sebastian and I were racing each other," Clary protested.

"Now where did you get an idea like that?" Adrian asked, seeming confused.

"You," Clary said, sounding as if it should be obvious, which it should have been.

"Did I give you guys that idea," Adrian sounded like he was trying to sound innocent.

"Yes," they all replied.

"How thoughtless of me. Well, you're part of two different teams racing against each other, and you have to work with your team mates to win. To the start line!" Adrian said, going back to his announcer's voice.

#

 _ **Adrian's games are about to begin,**_

 _ **One team will fail and feel chagrin,**_

 _ **The question is, which team will win?**_

 _ **Please leave a review that will make me grin!**_


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26:

Clary, Sebastian, Alec, and Isabelle took their places at the start line. Adrian had moved so he was at a desk in front of a computer monitor that displayed where the racers were. He could see the whole course without the monitor of coarse; it was just easier to use the monitor.

"RACERS, ON YOUR MARK! GET SET! GO!" Adrian shouted.

When Adrian shouted go, Sebastian moved in front of Clary, grabbed her wrists, and pulled her so she was on his back piggy back style. He then proceeded to sprint forward past Isabelle and Alec. Before Sebastian could go any further he bounced off an invisible wall.

"That's one point removed from team blue! You're supposed to work with your teammate. Not let them cling to your back like a leach!" Adrian announced over his microphone.

On a giant score board that hadn't been in the room before, Clary saw team blue go from zero points to negative one points. By that time Isabelle and Alec had caught up to them. Sebastian set Clary down.

"The race may now resume," Adrian said.

Sebastian and Clary sprinted forward. They were in front of Isabelle and Alec when they came to the first obstacle. They came to a wall with a rope dangling down just out of Sebastian's reach when he jumped.

"Lift me onto your shoulders," Clary said.

Sebastian looked at her for a moment before doing as she asked. When she was on his shoulders, she reached up and grabbed the rope. She started climbing.

"It's all good and well that you can get to the top, but how am I supposed to get up their?" Sebastian questioned.

"I'll see if there is a way to lengthen this rope or if there is another rope at the top," Clary answered in her haste to climb.

Isabelle and Alec had reached the wall by this time and also figured out how to climb it. Isabelle was catching up to Clary. Clary reached the top right before Isabelle and saw a rope. The rope was attached to the wall just coiled up. Clary slung the rope down to Sebastian and he started climbing. By this time Isabelle had reached the top and seen that there was only one rope. As soon as Sebastian had reached the top Alec started climbing.

There were two ropes on the other side of the wall. Clary and Sebastian started climbing down. Part way down the wall Sebastian let go and shoved off from the wall. He landed gracefully on his feet.

"Clary, let go of the rope and shove off the wall!" Sebastian called up to her.

"In case you haven't noticed, I can't do the same things as you and come out OK!" Clary called back.

"Don't worry I'll catch you!" Sebastian reassured.

"How do I know you will?" Clary questioned.

Isabelle was starting to climb down the rope Sebastian had abandoned.

"I'll catch you. I like to win, and to do that I need you," Sebastian answered.

Clary let go of the rope and shoved off the wall. Sebastian caught her, and they ran towards the next obstacle. They were startled to an abrupt stop when they heard Adrian's voice.

"One point for team blue for being the first team to get over the climbing wall! Team blue has a total of zero points! Team red has a total of zero points! Which team will break the tie! Stay tuned and find out!"

#

 _ **Adrian's insane,**_

 _ **Sebastian's depressed,**_

 _ **Please make this review,**_

 _ **The absolute best!**_


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27:

Clary and Sebastian ran. Isabelle and Alec were close behind. The next obstacle was a very wide babbling brook with jagged rocks sticking out. Among the dangerous rocks were several safe ones that were meant to be stepped on.

"I guess we go across," Clary pointed to the safe rocks. "Which of us should go first?"

"You," Sebastian replied.

Clary nodded. She jumped to the first rock and then to the next. She kept jumping from rock to rock until she came to a part where the rock path split in two.

"What's the hold up?" Sebastian asked.

"The path splits. I don't know which way to go," Clary replied.

"Pick whichever path leads to the other side," Sebastian commanded.

"I don't know which one leads to the other side," Clary said, exasperated. "If I did, then I wouldn't be standing here arguing with you about which side I should choose."

"Then just pick the most promising side," Sebastian urged.

Clary wavered between the two sides for another few seconds before choosing one. Sebastian followed. He looked over his shoulder and saw the Lightwood siblings come to the same crossway. Instead of choosing to follow team blue they went the other way.

Clary came to an abrupt halt.

"What's wrong?" Sebastian inquired.

"There aren't any more rocks to step on," Clary replied.

Sebastian looked over her. Sure enough the path ended. He glanced toward team red and saw them continue on, not running into the same snag. Sebastian snarled lowly under his breath. He did not want to lose. The shore wasn't that far ahead. He could jump the distance easily; however, he knew Clary couldn't.

Sebastian picked Clary up and turned around. He leaped back a few rocks. If he was going to jump the last part with a burden he wanted to have a running start. Or in this case, a leaping start. He leaped forward and when he came to the last rock he pushed off as hard as he could. They landed on the other side of the brook just as team red was arriving.

"That's one point for team blue, and one point for team red! Both teams are still tied! Who will be the tie breaker? Team blue or team red?! Find out soon!" Adrian announced to his nonexistent audience.

#

 _ **Adrian's playing,**_

 _ **Sebastian is fighting,**_

 _ **Favorite this story,**_

 _ **So I can keep writing!**_


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28:

Team blue and team red were neck and neck in the race. The next obstacle they came to was the giants' ladder. The rungs were as far apart as Clary was tall, which to the others wasn't so bad, because they were all taller than her. At least she could reach them when she raised her arms. Isabelle and Alec swung themselves up with ease. Sebastian did as well. Only Clary was having trouble. Getting impatient, Sebastian grabbed Clary's arm and hauled her up.

The farther up the ladder they went the further apart the rungs became. Eventually, it became so even Isabelle wasn't able to pull herself up. This meant that Alec had to do the same thing with Isabelle as Sebastian was with Clary. It was significantly harder for Alec since he was not as strong as Sebastian and Isabelle was bigger than Clary. Sebastian and Clary surpassed team red. Team blue was only about a rung in front of team red, when they reached the top.

"Here's a question. Why didn't we just go under the bottom rung of the ladder?" Clary asked.

They all looked at her, trying to rack their brains for an answer.

"Because we didn't, we decided to waste our time climbing it," Alec eventually answered.

"Yep, and now we have to climb all the way down again," Isabelle said.

They started climbing. Clary clung to Sebastian's back since she was too short to reach the separate rungs. Team red reached the ground seconds before team blue.

"Team red now has two points! Team red has finally broken the tie with team blue! Will team blue be able to catch up?!" Adrian asked as if he were actually speaking to a live audience.

Team blue ran past team red to reach the next obstacle. As soon as they reached it, shackles suddenly snapped onto Sebastian's ankles. Another pair of handcuffs immobilized his hands. When team red reached the obstacle the same thing happened to Alec.

The obstacle was a muddy river with two low strung ropes across it. Next to the river were two inner tubes with ropes attached. Clary grabbed one then grabbed Sebastian and tried to pull him onto one of the tubes.

"Could you at least try to help?" Clary grunted.

Isabelle wasn't having as much of a hard time and soon had Alec on his tube. Sebastian tried to wriggle in the direction Clary was pulling him. He got onto the tube and Clary picked up the rope attached. She tied it around her waist they began to pull Sebastian into the water. It was a lot easier to pull him once she had him in the water.

What neither of the teams was counting on was that the rivers current would pick up. At the beginning the current was gentle, then it gradually became stronger, until it was pulling both teams away from the ropes crossing the river. Clary and Isabelle clung to the ropes spanning the river as tightly as they could. They both hoped the knots around their wastes would hold. By this time the water was up to Clary's chest. Figuring that it would be easier to get across if she was out of the water, Clary pulled her legs up until she was clinging to the rope. She was right; it did make it easier. Now the only part being pulled was the tube Sebastian was in. She was able to get across the river before Isabelle and Alec. As soon as she pulled Sebastian out of the water, the shackles on his wrists and ankles released.

"TEAM BLUE HAS CAUGHT UP! THEY HAVE TIED THE GAME AGAIN! WHICH TEAM WILL WIN?! Keep watching to find out!" Adrian screamed, excitedly.

#

 _ **Our friends are still stuck,**_

 _ **On the twenty-first floor,**_

 _ **Please review and with luck,**_

 _ **I'll write a little more!**_


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29:

"The contestants are approaching their final obstacle! It's the hardest obstacle on the course! Each team has to successfully get both teammates through. Each team has to climb up one steep ramp. The teammates have to do it at the same time with only one rope attached to the top of the ramp to help them. Once they have reached the top they have to climb up a net wall to get to the monkey bars. On the other side of the monkey bars they will have to use tire swings as steps to reach the ground where they will run across the finish line. The teams will do all this while avoiding sweeping lasers! If a team member is hit by a laser that team will be transported back to the beginning of this obstacle! Who will win?!" Adrian exclaimed after explaining the obstacle.

By the time Adrian had finished explaining the obstacle both teams had reached it. Hearing Adrian's explanation both teams started up the wall cautiously, keeping an eye out for the lasers. Team blue had a close call when one of lasers almost hit Clary. Fortunately for her she was able to duck out of the way just in time. Both teams reached the top of the steep ramp safely. The net wall was a different story. While climbing the net wall Sebastian failed to notice one laser while he was ducking out of the way of another. The laser hit just as Clary was calling out a warning.

Team blue suddenly found themselves back at the start of the obstacle. All wasn't lost though; team blue began climbing the ramp again. Just as they reached the top of the ramp for a seconded time, they heard a muttered curse from below them. Clary glanced down and saw team red had been transported back to the start. Team blue started up the net wall again. Clary noticed something about the lasers.

"The lasers are sweeping in the same pattern as before!" Clary called to Sebastian.

"I noticed!" Sebastian shouted back.

The monkey bars were difficult for Clary. Clary became so distracted trying to dodge one laser that she didn't notice that there was another one about to hit her. Luckily, Sebastian did notice. He was able to swing up on top of the monkey bars and pull Clary out of the way.

By this time team red was catching up. Team blue raced ahead, trying to keep the lead they had. They were able to reach the tire swing steps without any more close calls. The tire swing steps seemed like they should be the easiest part of the obstacle. Team blue soon found out that it was just as hard as the previous parts. When they stepped on one side of the tire the other side went up, throwing whoever was on the swing off balance. It didn't help for one member of the team to step on one side and the other to step on the other side either. This was because Clary was tiny, and Sebastian… wasn't.

Both teams were on the swings now, trying to be the first team to the finish line. Team red reached the end of the swing steps just after team blue. Both teams raced for the finish line. Team blue ran across a second before team red.

"TEAM BLUE WINS!" Adrian screamed. "Here is a lovely picture of what your room will look like," he said, pulling up a picture of an office.

"Wait, I thought we each got our own room," Clary said.

"Oh no. You'll be sharing a room with your teammate," Adrian corrected. "I'll show you to your new room."

Adrian snapped his fingers and Isabelle and Alec disappeared; presumably back to the room where all the others were. Adrian walked out of the room, and Clary and Sebastian followed. The office he showed them to was nice. It was big and had two couches. Attached to the office was a bathroom.

"I'll leave you two to get settled in," Adrian said, walking out of the room.

Clary walked over to one of the couches and sat down.

"I'm exhausted. I'm going to get some sleep," Clary said, yawning.

Sebastian didn't acknowledge what Clary had said, just walked into the bathroom.

#

 _ **Clary's exhausted,**_

 _ **Sebastian is pissed,**_

 _ **Please favorite this story,**_

 _ **Don't try to resist!**_


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter 30:

When Sebastian came out of the bathroom, Clary was already asleep. Sebastian walked over to his couch and sat down. He watched Clary sleep for a few minutes while he thought. He thought about the way they had been able to work together to complete the obstacle course. They had been good together. Eventually, the exhaustion from completing the course caught up with him and he fell asleep.

#

"Are you guys alright?" Magnus asked as soon as Alec and Isabelle appeared in the room.

"Yeah. Adrian thought it would be fun to watch us complete an obstacle course," Alec replied.

"I'm tired," Isabelle yawned.

"We know. We saw everything. Is Clary alright?" Jace asked.

"I think so. After we finished, Adrian sent us back here. We don't know what happened to Clary and Sebastian," Alec replied.

"As long as Clary's OK," Jace murmured.

"In other news, we've found a way to reach the Faerie realm," Magnus said.

"That's great, Magnus," Alec praised. "You'll have to explain it in the morning. I'm too exhausted to escape right now."

#

The next morning Clary woke when someone barged in through the door.

"Wakey, wakey!" Adrian said, loudly as he came into the room.

Clary glared at Adrian. "I'm too tired to play anymore of your games today, Adrian," Clary complained.

"I figured as much, so you two won't be the ones playing. You'll be the spectators instead. Now, get up. I have much planned, and don't want to waste another second of the day. Breakfast is in the room your friends are staying in. You have an hour to get cleaned up and eat." Adrian announced.

Clary rolled out of bed and headed to the bathroom. When she came out, she found Sebastian already dressed and ready to go. They headed over to the room. Everybody was already eating, when Clary and Sebastian arrived. Clary sat down next to Jace and a plate piled with food appeared in front of her.

"Is there a plan to get to the Faerie realm yet? Please tell me there is," Clary begged.

"There is. The next time Adrian decides to play with Magnus, Magnus is going to put a spell on him to limit his powers so he can't pull us back here after we leave. Then Magnus and Celaena will open a portal to the Faerie realm," Jace explained.

"Let's hope Adrian decides to play with Magnus soon," Clary said.

As luck would have it, about thirty minutes later Adrian decided he wanted to play with Magnus.

#

 _ **The group is now desperate,**_

 _ **To escape this odd goon,**_

 _ **Please write a review,**_

 _ **That will make me swoon!**_


	31. Chapter 31

Chapter 31:

Clary watched as, on a screen that had been put in sometime between the last time she had been in the room and now, Adrian explained what was going to happen. He told Magnus and Celaena to go change before bringing in the Three Stooges. Once everybody was ready he told them to take their places at the start line.

Right before Adrian could yell go, Magnus wiggled his fingers and blue sparks engulfed Adrian.

"Wha… What's this?" Adrian stammered. "What are you doing?"

Large silver chains wrapped around Adrian, pinning his arms and hands to his sides. Magnus, Celaena, and the Stooges ran out of the room, heading for where they knew the others would be. When they arrived the others were ready to go. Magnus and Celaena began to make the portal.

When the portal was finished, Magnus turned to the others and asked, "You guys ready?"

"What's wrong with the portal?" Jace questioned.

"Nothing. It looks different than the portals you're used to because it's a portal to another dimension," Celaena explained.

"Enough chit chat, let's go through," Sebastian urged.

They all stepped through the portal. On the other side they found themselves in an empty chamber. Along the walls grew roots and vines.

"Where do we go now?" Clary asked.

"This way," Celaena directed.

Celaena led them through several passages until they came to a room with several tunnels leading off into different directions.

"We need to go through that one," Celaena pointed.

The group entered the tunnel. After few steps in, a strong wind and bright light seemed to engulf the group. Clary found herself back at the accords hall where she had been before everything started. In the cave Jace found himself watching Valentine talking to Sebastian. It seemed as if everything was back to normal.

#

Back at the office, the chains holding Adrian disappeared.

"No," Adrian cried.

Adrian knew what Magnus had done. Adrian walked out of the room and heard the Stooges talking. Shemp was back with the group, having never been killed by Valentine.

"Hey, Moe," Adrian heard Shemp say.

"Yeah?" Moe asked.

"I had the strangest dream. I dreamt there was this really mean guy who killed me," Shemp said.

"That's funny I had the same dream. Was the guy who killed you tall with white hair?" Moe inquired.

"Yeah," Shemp answered.

"I had that dream, too," Larry butted in.

"What a strange coincidence," Moe murmured as they picked up their stuff, put it away, and left.

Adrian snapped his fingers, trying to restore everything to the way he had it before. When nothing happened he tried again. Magnus had put a spell on him! They would pay for they're betrayal. Just as soon as he figured out how to get off this floor, which might take a while considering he had no idea how to get off.

 **The End**

 **#**

 **It's all just a dream,**

 **Like fog in the mind,**

 **Please leave a review,**

 **And always be kind!**


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